Many underwater telecommunications splice closures of the prior art currently do not sufficiently safeguard the splice zone from water incursions or from contaminants that may be present in the operating environment. Various closure designs and mechanisms are in use currently for preventing the adverse effects of water incursions into a splice zone, for example; but these typically are not sufficiently robust to withstand for long periods the water pressures at today's installed operating depths.
Designs in use typically also are unduly complex mechanically, particularly for use as underwater repair splice closures. Those which are physically robust tend to be expensive to manufacture, or require inordinate amounts of time to use in practice.
Optical fiber communications media are finding increasing use in the current outside plant. With this comes a need for more efficient and low cost splice closures to house optical fiber splices, while at the same time protecting the splices from the serious degradation of contaminants in the operating ambient.